Bobby V: No plans to change Buchholz role

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said after Sunday's 9-6, 17-inning loss that he was concerned about the performance of starter Clay Buchholz but that he has no immediate plans for a role change for the right-hander.

"Clay’s performance was not what he wanted it to be for sure and not what I wanted it to be. He left a lot of pitches in a real hittable zone and gave up a lot of hard-hit balls," Valentine said. "There were a lot of pitchers used today. He was one of them and I’ve got to figure out what to do, and how to get by with all these guys who really did a yeomen’s job today. I have no plans to change him at this time."

Buchholz has allowed five or more earned runs in all six of his starts this year, the longest such streak by a Red Sox starter since Red Ruffing endured an eight-game stretch in 1925.

For his part, Buchholz said that he is healthy and dismissed the idea that a blister issue he's dealing with could have had any impact on his outing. That, in turn, has made this run a challenging exercise for the 27-year-old.

"I feel good. If I knew the reason I was giving up hits and runs, I'd probably fix it. I have to figure it out," Buchholz said. "It's a pretty frustrating deal right now."

Buchholz did not factor into the decision, but his 9.09 ERA is the worst in the majors among pitchers with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, and his 2.02 WHIP is likewise the worst in the majors. He allowed three homers on Sunday to increase his yield to 10 (in 32 2/3 innings) this year, exceeding the number of homers he gave up in all of 2010, when he logged 172 2/3 innings.

Buchholz does have an option left, so he could be sent by the team to the minors. However, because he is more than three years removed from his big league debut, Buchholz would have to pass through optional waivers to be sent to the minors. That said, optional waivers are treated by all major league clubs as a mere procedural formality, and there are few if any examples of players being taken off of that particular form of waivers.

FOXBORO — WEEI.com’s Mike Petraglia and Chris Price discuss the return of LeGarrette Blount to Patriots training camp on Saturday, the first day of full pads practice for the defending Super Bowl champions.

Dickerson and Price discuss the RB position and who will get a majority of the workload. They also talk about missing Revis and the CB position. The boys also get into more Deflategate discussions with callers.

Dickerson and Price are live from Fenway today and kick off NFL Sunday discussing some of the events at Pats training camp this week. Then they get into the court battle between Brady and Goodell and where we go from here? The guys give their predictions on just how many games Brady will in fact sit out. They get into the Chris Mortenson situation after he backed out of the D&C interview. Finally, Trags (Mike Petraglia) of WEEI.com joins the boys live from training camp.

How long will this rebuild take? How much money will it take to keep Bae Crowder? Are Draft Picks even worth anything? With the Danny Ainge not landing any big names in the draft, and unable to lure any big names in free agency, Sam and Ben discussed if the Celtics are doomed moving forward.

Joe and Dave are joined by Pedro who was at the game and had his number 45 retired by the Red Sox in a very touching pregame ceremony. Pedro talks about going into the Hall of Fame, his time in Boston and love for the game of baseball.

The awesomely knowledgeable Fluto Shinzawa calls DJ, Naoko and Pete to talk about his thoughts on the future of the B's. He discusses his column from earlier this week on Cam Neely wanting to give Claude the ax earlier in the season but not getting the ok. Fluto shares his thoughts on Chiarelli's firing, the future for Claude and where the Bruins should go from here. He also gives his opinion on potential moves the team can make, who would fit in here, his thoughts on the NHL playoffs so far and more.

In the final hour of the "midseason finale" as DJ likes to call it, the crew discuss more about the future of the Bruins franchise, the possible power struggle in the front office and who should be the head coach going forward. They talk to intelligent and talented Fluto Shinzawa about all of these thing and more in an excellent interview, and finally, DJ says THANK YOU!

Intern extraordinaire Lucy joins Jerry once again to discuss the most vexing questions in the history of mankind: can men and women coexist? What are the differences between how men and women think? And how mean can women really be?

If you play Fantasy Football then you know there are several “Elephants in the Room!” And nobody is talking about them. Are they afraid? We’re not! The Dallas Running game, Leveon Bell, Demarco Murray & Ryan Matthews in the Philly backfield, the Saints offense and so much more. Right here, WEEI’s own Jim Hackett and Pete Davidson cover all of the main “Elephants in the Room” to help you get the edge for your upcoming drafts. Enjoy!